Lokomotif Kafe
Żebbuġ
Food: 7/10
Location: 6/10
Service: 6/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
They come to playfully taunt the waitress wearing mischievous, schoolboy grins that are less than innocent. These are the men of Żebbuġ, authentic Żebbuġin born and bred, who spend much of their days sitting on the benches that line the village square, drinking and gossiping, some even balancing a bird cage on one knee. It is intriguing to study it all. This quaint scene of village life holds a unique, intangible charm of its own. This is old-school Malta.
Żebbuġ is one of the oldest towns in Malta and the village square is a riot of colour, bursting with exuberance. The chief driving forces for such ebullience in the pjazza are religious fanaticism and political fervour.
There are no less than three band clubs. Then there are the politically-driven ones. There’s also the football club. It would seem that there would be precious little room for anything else on the square. But some Italians have squeezed themselves in and opened a trattoria.
The new restaurant Lokomotif has shaken things up, enticing the village with new things to see and savour. Of main concern is the waitress, who sports the tiniest of shorts. The men eye her up while I eye up the menu. I’m actually staring at the restaurant’s front door because this is where the briefest of menus is to be found. It is the only menu in the establishment.
Lokomotif is a rustic little restaurant, the decor is simple and the tables are basic. Simple Italian food is served here; namely pizza, pasta and piadine, along with a few meat-based daily specials thrown into the mix. The waiting staff prattle out the menu, which is a relief because the one on the door is exceptionally vague.
Well-executed dishes at very reasonable prices
Lokomotif is already wildly popular with the locals, and the villagers were out in full force. They contributed to the convivial atmosphere which was distinctly jolly. By the end of the night, noise levels had mounted to a deafeningly loud crescendo.
The restaurant does not benefit from air conditioning. Fans are thinly dispersed, scattered about the place. They feebly blow hot air at each other. The motive behind the waitress’ scanty attire soon becomes clear. She is trying to survive the sweltering Maltese summer.
Service is extremely friendly but slow and haphazard. Hotpants waitress seems to be the only capable one around. Things fared far better with regard to the food.
The pizza made here is small in size but delicious. Lokomotif’s pizza works because the ingredients are just right. A good spongy dough fired to light crispness until the crust is charred, is topped with a sumptuous tomato sauce and mozzarella. In this way, a pizza requires little embellishment. Loko’s Margherita pizza was, in fact, a simple delight.
We strove to be more adventurous and moved on to sample other diminutive delights; one with speck, mushrooms and rucola, another topped with grilled vegetables and ricotta salata, and a Capricciosa with flavourful artichoke hearts and a prosciutto cotto that had been thinly sliced and charred to a crisp. Each pizza was tasty and quite delectable.
For mains – yes, the pizza had only been the start of things – we ordered a trio of pasta dishes to share once again. They arrived in generously heaped steaming mounds. We couldn’t resist the hearty and rather wintry dish of tortellini with speck, cream and porcini mushrooms; a classic, killer combination of ingredients that is inevitably good.
This one was well-executed from the good quality pasta, to the salty crispness of the diced speck. The gorgeous porcini added incredible texture and flavour and melted into the velvety cream sauce that was sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese. It was lip-smackingly good.
Intensely savoury, Spaghetti all’ Amatriciana is absolute umami on a plate; meaty, spicy and totally tomatoey. The exact ingredients of regional Italian pasta sauces are sometimes bones of contention among Italians. This classic, well-known pasta dish born in the central Italian town of Amatrice is no exception. Choosing between bucatini or spaghetti, guanciale or pancetta and onion or garlic is still the subject of much debate.
It is only natural that ancient recipes evolve and transform over time. This pasta began life as a simple shepherd’s meal, entirely devoid of tomatoes. It was, and still is, known as Pasta alla Gricia. It is a harmonious dish comprised solely of guanciale and tangy Pecorino Romano shavings. A perfect balance of cured pork and cheese is obtained. Despite its simplicity, this is a pasta of decided character.
As appetising as this is, I am grateful to those non-purist Italians who allowed for add-ins like tomato, which would only have been introduced to the sauce once this fruit started to be imported from the Americas to the Old World. In this way, the much-loved Amatriciana was born.
Likewise, red peperoncino joined the sauce’s list of ingredients much later in the 16th century when Christopher Columbus brought chili peppers over from America. Loko’s Amatriciana pasta, though hardly staggering, was absolutely acceptable as a dish, unlike the unremarkable pasta that followed.
Flavours were muddled in the Spaghetti Marinara. The thick tomato sauce of this seafood pasta was richly flavoured but largely overpowered the delicate taste of the fish. This was perhaps a blessing in disguise because sadly the seafood did not taste awfully fresh.
Dessert comprised a tiramisu and a cheesecake. The tiramisu was original in that it had been disguised, hidden inside a tartufo ball thinly coated in a traditional cocoa shell. A generous blob of Nutella had been set at its heart. It was nice enough.
The lime cheesecake, on the other hand, was divine, despite the fact that it hadn’t quite set and could easily have done with a few more hours in the fridge. The fragrance and acidity of the lime beautifully cut through the indulgently rich cream topping, and the buttery biscuit base gave a gratifying crunch. It was heavenly.
On the whole, this little restaurant in Żebbuġ’s village core had served up relatively well-executed dishes at very reasonable prices. I would happily eat there again.